A Chinese startup just dethroned Nvidia on the benchmark Nvidia helped build
Summary
Spirit AI has overtaken Nvidia on the RoboArena robotics benchmark with its embodied intelligence model, Spirit v1.6. The startup also announced a 1.5 billion yuan financing round, its fourth in three months, highlighting rapid investor demand in physical AI. The story places Spirit AI’s result in a broader race where Chinese firms are leading several embodied AI benchmarks. It also shows Nvidia responding with partnerships and a coalition to push its physical AI ecosystem forward.
Funding
Amount
$222.0M
Total raised
Date
June 4, 2026
Announcement date
Investors
Runway, NVIDIA
Lead investors
Company
spirit-ai.com
Funded company
Classifications
industries
InsurTech
applications
Call Center Management
AskAI Classifications
Labels
Robotics Software
Automation Software
Artificial Intelligence Software
Linked Companies
Agile Robots
$25M to $50M
Spirit AI
$1M to $5M